Kiel Hiller notched his first collegiate hat trick to lead UNE to a conference road win
Box Score
(story courtesy Anna Maria College)
PAXTON, Mass.-- First-year Kiel Hiller (Galloway, NJ) scored a hat trick to lead the University of New England men's soccer team past Anna Maria College, 4-2, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup at Klingle Field on a wet and rainy Thursday afternoon.
The AMCATS took control early in this game as junior George Markopoulos (Worcester, Mass.) took a pass from sophomore Joshua Bernardo (Peabody, Mass.) and found the back of the net after just 2:22 of play. The goal was Markopoulos' 18th of his career, making him AMC's third all-time goal scorer.
UNE bounced back when Hiller scored an unassisted goal in the 10th minute to tie the game at 1-all.
That would remain the score as the first half came to a close. The stats were as even as the score with AMC owning a slight advantage in shots at 7-6. The two teams were tied in both corner kicks (3) and fouls (10).
Hiller got the scoring started in the second half when he took a beautiful feed from Owen Evans (West Stockbridge, Mass.) and kicked home the go ahead goal in the 61st minute of play.
Just over eight minutes later Markopoulos scored his second goal of the game on a direct kick, tying the score at 2-all.
The Nor'easters struck right back once again, as Hiller completed the natural hat trick just a minute later on an unassisted score. Eric Goldberg (Colorado Springs, Colo.) iced the game with a goal assisted by Dan Crear (North Attleboro, Mass.) in the 87th minute. The Nor'easter ran out the clock for a 4-2 victory.
With the win, the Nor'easters are now 4-5-3 overall and 3-5-2 in the TCCC. They will travel to take on Roger Williams on Saturday at 12:30 pm. The loss drops the AMCATS to 4-10 on the season and 3-6 in conference play. Anna Maria will return to the field on Saturday when they host Salve Regina at 2:30 pm.